“The Legendary Silk Road by Private Train,” offered by Lernidee Erlebnisreisen GmbH (Eisenacher Str. 11, D-10777 Berlin, Germany; phone+49 [30] 786 00 00, www.lernidee.com), was the first group tour my wife and I took that had no other native-born English speakers.

We traveled Oct. 13-26, 2009, and chose that departure because Lernidee promised an English-speaking guide. Only four of us on the 45-person tour spoke no German, but, as advertised, Lernidee flew in a guide, a delightful...

I toured Mali and Burkina Faso, Feb. 10-27, 2010, with Craig Canadian Group Travel, Ltd. (Toronto, Ont., Canada; 800/387-8890), who also arranged a post-trip, seven-day hotel stay for me for in Paris through March 6.

The tour was named “Into the Heart of West Africa,” and the cost for everything was $8,754. That covered round-trip air from Portland, Oregon, everything in Africa (except water during meals), the hotel room in Paris and an overnight in a Toronto hotel on my way back....

In Rome, I recommend a stay at Casa di Santa Brigida (Piazza Farnese 96, 00186 Roma, Italy; phone +39 06 6889 2596 or 2497, fax 6889 1573 or e-mail piazzafarnese@brigidine.org). It overlooks the elegant, quiet Piazza Farnese, with the Campo dei Fiori market a block away. Ask for the room that overlooks the piazza.

The nuns who run Casa di Santa Brigida are caring and speak English. I was there May 13-17, 2010, and the nightly cost for one person was €110 (near $142) — more...